When I was in Washington last weekend, I had a chance to talk about the tournament a little bit with the Capitals who were heading over. The most excited player, by far, was Alex Ovechkin, who is going to get a chance to showcase his skills in his hometown in a big-ticket international tournament for the first time. Fellow Russian, Alex Semin, will be joining him on the team.

They also protest that in their own language (and its sister language, Russian), you should use the preposition "v" (in) rather than "na" (on). Apparently, the origin of the name is in a term meaning "borderlands" or "hinterlands." Hence, on the borderlands.

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About Me

A sportswriter at The Globe and Mail, James covers the NHL and the game of hockey. He is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, a radio and TV analyst with TSN and was the NHL network manager at SB Nation from 2008 to 2010. A graduate of Thompson Rivers and Ryerson universities, James grew up in Kamloops, B.C. — one of Canada's great hockey cities — and was a season ticket holder in the Blazers' glory years.

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